I rent the LA at my LQS. I didn't have to take a class but the owner or her DH are right there to help if there's a problem. Cost is 1-1/2 cents/sq. in. plus setup which is about $15 I think. I haven't done anything on my home machine. It's too much trouble and I'm not any good at FMQ yet.

Margaret

"If the devil could dance in empty pockets, he'd have a ball in mine."

Life is a coin. You can spend it any way you wish but you can only spend it once.

Hahaha! I too went to pq in east Northport and took the class. I've now rented the machine a few times and love it! Easy and staff friendly and helpful. Now I make the dash to finish a quilt to play in it more. Meander on a full took only about a bit more than 2 hours! Sewtime is doing a similar thing with the new pfaff la. Hmmm might just try it. I would recommend doing a quilt soon after the class so it's fresh. Have fun!

Reading all these posts was really helpful and if you don't mind I'd like to pick your brain especially because you went to PQ in East Northport. Do they use any grips for loading the quilt (red snapper and similar)? I know nothing about LAQ and now I canno wait to take my class.

just used the LA at my LQS and loved it. They pinned the quilt and all to the different roolers and set it up for me. I choose the pattern I wanted to follow with the pinpoint light and away I went. Not perfect put it looks great and I did it myself. Have appointments set up for 3 more quilts by Christmas. It was fun and you should take the class. My top was for a throw and it took me just over an hour to do it.

That price is very good. When I learned to LA in the SF Bay area, it was $100 for the class (4 hours) and no free rental. The shop did charge $10/hour to start, later raised their rates to $12, but no minimum. They started with an Nolting (no stitch regulator) and upgraded to a non-regulated Gammill. The shop also had someone available at all times for assistance with the machine. Then I moved to LV and the only place that rented had a Tin Lizzie at the time and the class was $125. Their rental was $25/hr with a 2 hour minimum, but I didn't have to rent by that time. I don't know how they work it.

I was glad to learn how to LA and appreciated the availability of a rental machine, but was glad to buy my own, since the shop was on the other side of town.

LAQ rental

Originally Posted by Tashana

My LQS has a Babylock Jewel that you can rent per hour. The condition is that you take 2 hr class that introduces you to the machine and teaches you how to load the quilt, thread the machine, etc. The class comes with 2 free hours of rental.
I know nothing about long arm quilting and this is the first time I have seen a long arm machine in person. It sounds very tempting because fighting a queen size quilt on my domestic sewing machine can sometimes be very frustrating.
Did any of you try something like this? This is not a computerized machine so how many hours do you think I would need to rent the beast to get marginally acceptable meandering on a practice sheet? Is loading going to take me forever? Any advice you can give me will be helpful. I believe the frame is Grace and I saw some bungee cables hanging on the side (please don't laugh I know nothing about this). Thank you all for your help!

I took a lesson on the LAQ at our local quilt shop, I then rented it by the hour and quilted a twin quilt randomly and it only took about 4 hours from the start to finish. Once it is pinned on, it is very easy and fast. I loved using it, just wished I could afford one for myself. I recommend taking the class and renting the machine if you can afford it. Good luck.

I help my sister sometimes when she uses her long arm to quilt. Most of the time we can get a quilt quilted in about three hours. It always takes longer than we think, as the tension will get wrong, thread will break, etc. If she has her pattern picked out and the machine threaded, it takes about three hours, even with a few problems. If the top, backing, and batting are already on the machine, it takes less time.

Like someone said, it is a very individual thing, and it depends on the size of the quilt. My sister feels like her machine is only happy if she is sewing a bit slower than she wants to, so that may have something to do with it.

If the machine is stitch-regulated, you could probably do a simple medium-sized meander on your queen-sized quilt in 3-4 hours. I could do it faster, but that is only because I have a longarm and have been longarming for 4 years. I'm trying to remember back how long it took me at first! If you want to be more skilled when you first lay your happy hands on that longarm, draw out the design you want to do...lots! Doodle that meander whenever your hands aren't busy - it builds muscle memory and translates well to the longarm. And since you are renting time on the machine, if there is a problem, there will be someone there to fix any problem you run into. I think it sound very reasonable - I would not let anyone use my machine without lessons on it first!!! Go for it and have fun - just be warned, it is addicting!!!